Dominion Over and Over | Second Battle of Borosk | NIO

[IMPCOM]

T H I R D _ I M P E R I A L _ C I V I L _ W A R​

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B O R O S K .
O V E R _ A N D _ O V E R

We bled on Borosk. Today, we return. With the Sith Imperial Legion sent to this world surrounded and bled from the attrition of the lack of any supply lines from the New Imperial Order's control of the Braxant Run, now is ample opportunity to strike back and retake our lost world from the rotten clutches of the Sith Empire.

​

OBJECTIVE I //: BANEFUL

The final hold out of the Sith Imperial legions from Borosk are held up within a makeshift fortress in the scuttled ruins of the HMS Baneful, the very star destroyer boarded by the New Imperial Order and the Sons of Mandalore upon the Sith Empire's initial assault of the world.

Consolidating the scattered remnants of the 908th Stormtrooper Legion originally charged with the defense of Cassel Point and the defense of Borosk, the New Imperial Order pushes for a strike to finally drive the Sith-Imperials off the surface of the world to finally reclaim it under the Imperial Sun.

Be wary, as the HMS Baneful was confirmed to carry stocks of Omega Red, keep your armor sealed and retrieve any pertinent intelligence aboard the vessel's shattered remains.

​

OBJECTIVE II //: OPULENCE

Returning from the warfront, a great deal of New Imperial Order and allied personnel have been stationed aboard the NIV Opulence for medical attention, rest and recovery. Take advantage of a moment's reprieve from the rush and rage of the ongoing war onboard the New Imperial medical ship.

​

OBJECTIVE //: BYOO

Whatever gets you to post, chief.

 

[IO-21]

Objective: Baneful
Tags: Open

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A blaster bolt shot out from a cobbled together hardpoint from what used to be a thick armored panel covering a maintenance access. The crimson red plasma died in a shower of sparks against the dirt mound IO-21 was taking cover behind. Droids had been one of the first deployed forces the NIO coordinators sent to the downed-starship-turned-fortress. Around the outgunned and outnumber Sentinel Droid was the mangled remains of IO's counterparts.

More blaster bolts rained down on the small hill that had been made by the earth around the starship being pushed away. A thick, deep, grove was carved into the rock and dirt where the starship's rough landing took place. A debris field of mostly hull panels made random patterns in the trench. Calculating the window of opportunity for the relatively safe return fire at his current position, IO-21, stood stiffly and leveled the blaster carbine's barrel at the location of the hardpoint. The mechanical finger whizzed as it turned the semi-automatic weapon into something rivaling that of more modern slug thrower.

Shinktssss

The weapon's energy cell engaged an emergency stop to prevent a catastrophic failure as the moisture in the air turned into a faint fog around the weapon's barrel. Ducking down behind cover the droid was 75% certain that no causalities had been incurred on the enemy forces due to his counter-offensive. Although the possibility of psychological fatigue had increased. Unexpected firepower, a single combatant, only more direct approach or indirect weaponry would be able to reliably reach IO's position - at least that is what his still relatively fresh experience computations were leading him to believe.

 

[Aldritch Kaal]

// Are you a master of your own life, or a slave to circumstance? //
// FN-138 FIRST LIEUTENANT 'LAW' //
// OBJECTIVE II //
// NIV OPULENCE, ??? //
// @IAmTheExecutive //
// Spikes, Spikes, Spikes, Spikes //
​

I don't remember how I got out of the Iron Cage, but the pounding in my head tells me it wasn't easy. A momentary panic set in when I realized I couldn't move, strapped to a medical bed in a dimly lit room. All the equipment hooked up to me screamed New-Imperial, but the restraints and absence of any medics or droids were suspicious. Half-naked, cold, head pounding a tried to relax momentarily, reassuring myself that someone would come and release me. A minute went by, two, three, four; I quickly started to grow impatient. I began to wriggle and pull, trying to break myself from the restraints.

That's when I saw something looming the shadows just beyond the dim fluorescence. That bittersweet nanogene had its merits, I doubt I would have ever noticed were it not for the effect it had on my perception. "I see you there, what the fuck is going on!?" My shouting yielded no response, and I began to resist with a sudden surge of fearful determination. "Hey!" I screamed again, tugging and thrashing at the straps. My brain flipped into fight mode and I began to pull all my limbs with the peak of my strength.

I probably wasn't getting out of this, but I wasn't going to lie there and take it.

 

[The Executive]

// MEANS FIND AN END TO JUSTIFY //
// T H E _ E X E C U T I V E //
// OBJECTIVE II //
// NIV OPULENCE, SECLUDED MEDBAY //
// @IAmShaze //
// Drink Up //
​

The Executive's cold, glowing cerulean eyes suddenly broke through the darkness to gaze towards the Lieutenant. Regarding the Chiss's struggle for a few moments, they beamed forebodingly from the shadows. Eventually, a slowly taken step echoed through the small chamber. It was followed shortly by a second that brought him into the light. Luminescence cascaded down from the top of his head, down to the tips of his feet. The Executive's average frame was clad in a pristine suit, and his hair was nearly slicked backward; a strange choice of attire for one aboard a New-Imperial vessel. With a roll of his wrist, his hand suddenly produced a cigarra that was put between the lips and lit by a flame that ignited from the bare-tip of his index finger.

"First Lieutenant Zurs'haze'alorn," the man began exhaling wisps of smoke from between his teeth. An odd mechanical sound emitted from his neck as his head tilted slightly to the left. "I apologize for the- less-than-comfortable accommodations, but after what you've been through, we decided it was good to make sure there wouldn't be, ah, an incident." His voice was calm and firm, but his diction and intonation was odd, as if he wasn't totally certain how to speak. Eerie would be an understatement when his odd speech patterns were accompanied by the sharp glow of his unblinking eyes. Reaching into the jacket of his suit, he pulled out a glass cylinder container that contained an odd, red liquid...

 

[Paz Koon]

// NIV OPULENCE, MEDBAY //
// Rurik Fel //
// SERAPHIM //
// Sapphire //

​

Unscathed. Perhaps it was luck, or maybe it was his training paying off. Regardless, not everyone was so fortunate to come out of this so pristine. At the command of Knight Commander Wymar, Lambert had been shuttled to the NIV Opulence. He'd wondered anxiously about his mentor's condition, but he wasn't able to drop everything and check for himself. The word that the Knight Commander had called for him was reliving to a point, knowing that he at the very least was still among them. Though, something, be it the force or just an inclination, twisted within the pit of his gut. He knew something was wrong, but he couldn't quite pinpoint what it was.

Following the medical droid to where Rurik was being held, the feeling in his stomach began to grow stronger and stronger. Eventually transforming into a subtle burn and sting across most of his body. His face was stuck in a wince as he strode through the hallways of the NIV opulence. As the door slid open, Lambert stepped in and performed the standard salute before he even realized what he was looking at. "You sent for me Knight Com-?" Lambert paused involuntarily as his eyes finally processed Wymar's condition. "-mander?"

 

[Jaeger Harrsk]

CONFERENCE ROOM,
DEFIANCE-CLASS STAR DESTROYER 'UNYIELDING'

"There will be repercussions to this, Imperator." Jaeger indicated as the brief for Operation Kyber Dark was presented. "The war may have started as a war against the Sith but those Sith who aligned with us have forged relations with troopers, officers and even politicians. The first see them as leaders, the second as comrades and the third as tools for their personal agenda."

"If anything, it must be done after Bastion."

The commissar never supported the idea of accepting Sith apostates into the ranks of the New Imperial Order. He'd assumed, sooner or later, their cost would far outweigh their benefit.

His comlink blinked, he silenced it.

Irveric Tavlar​

 

[Volgin Alto]

V I D A G E
501st STORMTROOPER LEGION
Armor | Repeater | Pistol
OBJECTIVE | BANEFUL
FOCUS | IO-21

Revenge. The Sith had crept up beyond the war front and struck into the fortified heart of the New Imperial Order. The very fortress of Anton's ancestral namesake, Cassel Point was wrenched from the grip of the Order and now the Sith had even abandoned its occupation to take up position in the crashed Star Destroyer HMS Baneful embedded into the surface of Borosk.

It was time to strike back.

He immediately was abrasive to the fact it was the droids first through the breach but with the fear of OMEGA RED onboard the Baneful, he supposed it might've been the best move.

In fresh colors, he strode onward in the cobalt striping of the 501st, his unit having been absorbed into the Imperator's Legion after it was parcelled together following his liberation from Orinackra. It was bruising to be rendered separate from the comrades he'd initially gone about helping consolidate, the very Legion his ancestor commanded generations before him.

But the fresh start was necessary.

His unit fresh into the fray, he made way up to the flank of the droid supposedly 'commanding' this unit. IO-21

<"What's our hold up?"> The Captain inquired, his voice dipped in shades of bitterness.

He wanted vengeance.

 

[Rurik Fel]

P A R A B O L
NEW IMPERIAL ORDER
KNIGHT OF THE EMPIRE
OPULENCE ( FLUID TIME, FOLLOWING THE BATTLE OF PL-numbers )
FOCUS | Lambert Vasari

It was a pain unlike any he'd felt before. Even when his hand was severed within the exchange with The Devil, Kascalion Giedfield , none of it seared quite nearly as bruisingly as The Twilight. It was a willing of the darkness which buried deep into the core of the Imperial Knight so much that he'd felt a wound in his soul from the wave of darkness imposed by the Emperor's Hand.

Aboard a vessel attached to the medical relief fleet the Knight Commander was relieved from his original duty charged in interdicting the Sith-Imperial fleet making way to Borosk.

He was unfit to lead, unfit to fight. Had he entered the field, he would've been killed with a minimal. A triad of Sith-Imperial Legionnaires alone would've done it.

A cybernetic hand had still yet to be fitted to the stub after it'd been severed by Kascalion, his skin was entirely marred down to a horrific disfigurement as the burns raked at the surface.

His eyes slowly peered up to the Arkanian off-shoot after he'd entered, barely donning anything outside of what covered anything of blatant indecency.

"Lambert..." He muttered, his voice strained, weak as he addressed one of the many Imperial Knights under his tutelage at the moment the medical droid was in the process of attaching the cybernetic hand to his arm in its cold, meticulous process.

"Have we news from Borosk?" He inquired, immediately concerned with the strategic needs of the Order.

 

[Irveric Tavlar]

I M P E R A T O R
NEW IMPERIAL ORDER
BYOO - ACTIVE MEASURES
FOCUS | Jaeger Harrsk

It was time the New Imperial Order evolve. They couldn't be the scrappy rebels forever, not with the war of existence against the Sith Empire drawing to its conclusion. Victory at that. Even if there was still a mountain of Sith to bloody and slog through, there were more enemies at the gates.

Kyber Dark. It was the machination of the Irveric Tavlar leading back his time as a Major General within the Sith-Imperial Armed Forces. It was then that he began to consolidate his own host, his own divergent realm under the nose of the Sith Emperor. What had become the reformed Storm Commandos, Death Troopers and Dark Troopers came from initial development of Kyber Dark following the battle of Kintan.

It was close to coming to full fruition.

Jaeger was right to fear the consequences, what had started as a war of nation against nation for the identity of Empire, would evolve into a war of Empire against the cults of the force, for the identity of the Galaxy.

"Whatever those within the Order see the Sith as, they're parasites. Of course, some have been invaluable assets to the Order...but in the same vein, we are pawns to them just as they have been pawns to us. So long as there is a common enemy to fight, they're at our side...once its gone, their sights turn on our backs. It is in their nature to betray. Our people need to be made clear of that in the days following its initial command."

Bastion was never the true intended venue of its initial commencement.

"I will issue the command when the time is right, no earlier, no later...our Order is evolving. What had began the alliance of rebels made out of necessity needs to be tempered into something stronger, other wise we will be chum for the rest of the Galaxy to feed upon once the Sith are driven back. Allow these Sith to roam...and they'll subvert us before anyone else gets the chance." Irveric stated. Though he was a soldier first and primarily, it was political tact which had positioned him here at all.

 

[Jaeger Harrsk]

CONFERENCE ROOM,
DEFIANCE-CLASS STAR DESTROYER 'UNYIELDING'

"Very well." Jaeger added, a glare at the holoprojection of the brief on the wall before he turned it off. A long pause, a few finger taps on the table, then switched the holoprojection on; this time in regards to a whole different project.

The Empire.

A prolonged silence as the holo projected a visual of a section of the galactic map. A quarter of that section only was under New Imperial rule.

Jaeger cleared his throat. "Should we crush them at Bastion it would all be for nothing if the Order collapses a day later. The Alliance..." he clicked a button on his remote and the projection revealed footage of the Galactic Senate, both public and covertly acquired. "...will become a threat to deal with. The Silvers, as well. They will never come to accept imperialism. They will need to be dealt with by any means necessary for the sake of the state." the commissar presented.

Irveric Tavlar

 

[Irveric Tavlar]

I M P E R A T O R
NEW IMPERIAL ORDER
BYOO - ACTIVE MEASURES
FOCUS | Jaeger Harrsk

"Should we crush them at Bastion it would all be for nothing if the Order collapses a day later. The Alliance..."

"...will become a threat to deal with. The Silvers, as well. They will never come to accept imperialism. They will need to be dealt with by any means necessary for the sake of the state."

Irveric's eyes flicked over the projection of the Senate footage. They were rodents, all of them. Each of these 'elected officials'. They were the other side of the coin to the same bureaucratic slop which the Sith Empire had employed to govern its system. The leadership of the Galaxy was by and large, very weak.

The Galactic Alliance were co-belligerents in this war as it was, from a mutual desire to snuff out the darkness. Their troopers bled and died alongside the New Imperial Order all the same, but in the end, the bleeding Sith Empire would lead the New Imperial Order alone and the worlds which had sworn allegiance to the Sovereign Imperator shredded and spent by the conflict as the Galactic Core was left unfettered, untouched by struggle.

The Alliance would be granted the opportunity for another crusade, this time in the name of destroying Empire. The way of life the New Imperial Order had sought to cultivate. Peace, order, security, the right to self worth, self determination. To be led by those who had their interests in mind and not controlled by those who had lived in service to an inhuman creed. They could threaten to rip it all away in favor of a fate left to rabble to decide between one corrupt criminal or the other depraved parasite.

There'd only be peace under that so long as the people had their full bellies, as soon as tribulations rot at society, the cracks in the armor would shine far too bright to conceal.

"They're both threats...every sovereign Galactic power is a threat to us, Harrsk. This is because they all expect a kneel at their altar, they are not prepared for a nation, a people in defense of their own interests. Every single one of these corrupt glad hands bends the knee to another, it is an ouroboros of creed and complacency. That will not be this Order. The Silver Jedi Concord and Galactic Alliance must be made immediately aware that we are not vulnerable...all the while, we make them vulnerable. That is where you are the most vital, Jaeger." The Imperator states.

 

[Paz Koon]

// NIV OPULENCE, MEDBAY //
// Rurik Fel //
// SERAPHIM //
// OBJECTIVE II //

​

Lambert forced his expression into a deadpan with a quick, tight blink. He didn't want to display empathy and have the proud Knight's Commander misread it as pity. Though, in Commander Wymar's current state, pity was probably applicable. Even still, he squared his shoulders and stood with the strong, proud posture and discipline he teacher would have expected.

"Lambert..."​

Teeth gritted together as the Imperial Knight forced himself not to grimace at the raspy sound of the Commander's voice. It looked bad, and it truthfully it was bad, the Commander's condition explained the empathic inclinations he'd felt on the way here. If anyone could pull through such a thing, however, it was Rurik. Lambert wasn't one to have 'faith' in anything, but this was an exception.

"Have we news from Borosk?" ​

Lambert nodded, "Yes, Knight Commander." He'd come prepared for such a question; he stepped forward with a holo-datapad cradled underneath his left arm. He held it out to where the Commader could see and began to tap on the screen to show several diagrams, displays, and live feeds. "Most New-Imperial forces were driven off the planet for a time, but after a prolonged siege most of the higher Sith-Imperial command echelons have fled, leaving only a remnant of the initial invasion force under siege in the ruins of the HMS Baneful crashsite. Though, Omega Red contamination has complicated the process of taking out their final foothold, it's only a matter of time before the siege breaks."

 

[Sola Ordes]

CDR SOLA ORDES, NEW IMPERIAL ORDER TAGS //: OPEN OBJECTIVE I //: BANEFUL OBJECTIVE III //: BYOO ​
The first task given to 3rd Squadron had been an easy one. The NIV Opulence had received orders to head into the system and act as equal parts hospital ship and medical retainer for the invading forces. And even though some in higher command might have felt that the sector in question was kept secure enough to not warrant it, an escort had been assigned to her. And so it was that the NIV Dastardly cut a path through the vacuum ahead of the hospital ship, with her sisters Quickfoot and Nevergone holding position off the Opulence towards the planet-side flank and rear respectively. NIV New Jubilee, the cruiser of the squadron, held position further afield of the medical ship with her main battery drawing a point on the planet far below. Standing on the bridge with gloved hands clasped behind her back, Commander Sola Ordes swept hazel eyes over her bridge crew as each station went about their tasks. Flight command were coordinating the squadrons, master gunnery were patching in to the tactical net, and other stations quickly set to work shifting from jump conditions to combat operations as quickly as possible for whatever came next. Sola turned to the tactical display on her bridge and already saw the pulsing crimson marker of the HMS Baneful - a crippled star destroyer turned into a fortress for Sith forces - and she wasted no time in turning to one of the nearby junior officers, "Comms, reach out to Dastardly. Tell her I want her to drop to atmo' and move to provide direct fires. I want her on the line with ground command, ASAP." There was a quick affirmation and the message was dispatched. It would be thirty minutes in high orbit, burning hard around predicted areas of planetary defense before the NIV Dastardly hailed to ground forces on general communication, "To Imperial forces in proximity of the Baneful, this is Lieutenant Commander Berav of the Dastardly. We're receiving reports of heavy ground contact and are burning hot for your location now. Relay targets, we're coming in loaded heavy."​

 

[Jaeger Harrsk]

CONFERENCE ROOM,
DEFIANCE-CLASS STAR DESTROYER 'UNYIELDING'

That is where you are the most vital, Jaeger." The Imperator states.

"It is." Jaeger acknowledged.

The holoprojection was shut off, the blue light illuminating the room disappeared and was replaced by the usual white lights of the conference room. What was next to be presented would solely come from the commissar.

"Democracies are inherently fragile because sentient life naturally despises taking responsibilities. For that I have drawn out a...system to tackle the threat of these governments from within through ideological subversion."

"I have called it active measures."

"Active measures is the slow process of changing the perception of reality of every democratic citizen to such an extent that despite the abundance of information no one is able to come to sensible conclusions in the interests of defending themselves, their families, their communities and their nations. It is a great brainwashing process which goes very slow and is divided into four basic stages."

"The first one being demoralization, it takes from fifteen to twenty years to demoralize a nation. Why that many years? Because this is the minimum number of years which requires to educate one generation of students in the nation of your enemy. Expose to the ideology of the enemy, in other words Imperialist ideology is being pumped into the soft heads of at least three generations of students without being challenged or counter-balanced by the basic values of democracy. The demoralization process in the Alliance and the Silvers is basically completed already. For the last twenty years. Actually, it is overfulfilled because demoralization now reaches such areas no one could even dream of such tremendous success. As I mentioned before, exposure to true information does not matter anymore. A person who is demoralized is unable to assess true information, the facts tell nothing to him. Even if I shower him with information with authentic proof, documents and pictures. Even if I take him by force to Entralla and show him labor camps, he will refuse to believe it until he is going to receive a kick in his fat bottom; when the military boot crushes his balls, then he will understand but not before then."

"The next stage is destabilization. This time subverters do not care about your ideas and the patterns of your consumption. It doesn't matter anymore. This time, and it only takes from two to five years to destabilize a nation, what matters is essentials - economy, foreign relations, defence systems. And you can see it quite clearly that in some sensitive areas as defence and economy the influence of Imperialism ideas in these nations is absolutely fantastic. I would've never believed it fifteen years ago that the process will go so fast."

"The next stage is crisis. It may take only up to six weeks to bring a nation to a crisis. You can see it in Kuat now. And after crisis, with a violent change of power structure and economy you have the so-called the period of...

"...normalization. It may last indefinitely."

Irveric Tavlar ​

 

[Irveric Tavlar]

I M P E R A T O R
NEW IMPERIAL ORDER
BYOO - ACTIVE MEASURES
FOCUS | Jaeger Harrsk

Active Measures. The doctrine within which the New Imperial Order would wholly establish itself within the Galactic stage. Shedding down its perception as a rogue state and into the Imperial Bastion it was always deemed to be.

Without any New Imperial Stormtrooper taking the field and firing a blaster in anger, the New Imperial Order could exert its influence across nearly ever Galactic power in the implementation of Active Measures. The stronghold of democracy in the Galactic Alliance, the Jedi hold in the Silver Concord, the autocratic Sith Empire or the thinly veiled aristocracy of the CIS.

If COMPNOR would be able to carefully place its pieces, it could bring any nation to its knees in similar fashion.

"A masterful strategy, Active Measures. You learned well in The Core, Harrsk." Tavlar iterates.

"Yet now we decide the venue of which to implement this doctrine. We are surrounded by enemies, Jaeger. The Alliance will march at our side until we act purely in our interests, and now what is mutual. But the Silver Jedi are an easily manipulated and unproven state on the brink." The Sovereign Imperator states.

 

[Rurik Fel]

P A R A B O L
NEW IMPERIAL ORDER
KNIGHT OF THE EMPIRE
OPULENCE ( FLUID TIME, FOLLOWING THE BATTLE OF PL-numbers )
FOCUS | Lambert Vasari

"Yes, Knight Commander."

"Most New-Imperial forces were driven off the planet for a time, but after a prolonged siege most of the higher Sith-Imperial command echelons have fled, leaving only a remnant of the initial invasion force under siege in the ruins of the HMS Baneful crashsite. Though, Omega Red contamination has complicated the process of taking out their final foothold, it's only a matter of time before the siege breaks."

"And I wasn't there for them...at Borosk. I should've been. When the Sith, those despicable parasites first tread into our space. Me, you, the entirety of our Order should've been there to meet them in force...and now they march to pick up the scraps."

"I failed...no matter. Our sights need be set forward, to Dubrillion, Bastion, the fall of this horrid state." Rurik said, he'd barely allowed himself respite before he concerned himself with the matters of the war of identity between the New Imperial Order and Sith.

"Your training...I have failed you as a teacher...this war...has consumed all of me and yet I have forsaken the needs of our Order in favor of the battlefield. The short term instead of the light of the future ahead of us. We fight to reclaim the identity of our Empire now...but it will be men like you and the others that lead it onward, past this bloodied crucible." Rurik states almost solemnly.

<::YOUR ARMOR IS NEARLY PREPARED FOR YOU, KNIGHT COMMANDER.::> The Medical droid sounded out in its frigid infection to the pair. Of course, he would be readied for battle once more.

 

[Naier Rambeigh]

CDR NAIER RAMBEIGH, NEW IMPERIAL ORDER TAGS //: OPEN OBJECTIVE I //: BANEFUL OBJECTIVE III //: BYOO ​
HINAVCOM was a creature that should never be prodded with if you were an officer that had a vested interest in staying in the Navy. Why command saw fit to assign both his and Commander Sola Ordes' squadrons to assist New Imperial forces in Borosk was none of his concern. Curious officers never profit, or saw the light of the next day too often. The officer entered his bridge to a low hum of activity that tried its best not to garner his attention, which suit him fine. "Bridge, status." he barked at the woman standing at attention by the situation table. Lieutenant Simone gave a salute that Naier waved off. "3rd Squadron has established security around the Opulence. No contacts around the planet, nor left it sir." Naier tapped onto the table's console and brought up planetary data and scans. An Imperial unit insignia flashed on screen, the 908th visible on every tracked unit. "Bring Major Silas on the horn, tell him his men are being deployed on the surface in fifteen- and warm up our jockeys, I want gun runs on locally designated targets as soon as we breach atmo'. Navigation, set us a chart, bring us in planet side, nice and secure. I don't want any surprise." "Sir, the HMS Baneful's knocked out of commission. It's little more than a fortress. And what about the rest of the squadron?" He pulled out a whiskey flask from under his jacket and unscrewed the cap. Simone's nose wrinkled even across the table. There was a prolonged silence as Naier took a swig and closed the flask, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "Comms! Inform the rest of the squadron to spread out along the planetary hemisphere, active scans on full power. No ship leaves without being identified. If it's not Imperial, arrest it. If it tries to escape, disable it. If it shoots back, then blow it out of the sky. " His lieutenant objected. "We hardly have enough for a proper blockade." "We have enough. And the Baneful is still a ship, grounded or not. A ship with big enough guns to tear half our squadron apart, and fuck us out of a ride home. You want to remain on this planet for the rest of your career lieutenant? I don't." He sarcastically saluted her, leaving his hand up longer than necessary before letting the salute drop. The NIV Ode to Greed slowly brought itself to the planet, the Opulence a metal-grey blob at the side of the bridge windows. Outside of the corner of his eyes, Simone shot her commanding officer an anxious look whenever she thought he wasn't aware. He was always aware, but made a show of pulling out his cigarette tin. "Sir!" Her voice made him drop a cigarette to the floor. A utility droid immediately wheeled out from the corner and pounced on it like a cat, but the commander's foot was quicker, and several ensigns dodged a flying black thing that landed with a broken THUD across the room. Cursing angrily, Naier bent down to pick up his cigarette and turned around to glare at Simone. "What?" She swallowed and pointed at his cigarette. "You were about to smoke that cigarette sir." "It's my fucking ship, Lieutenant." "Yes sir, but you also t-told me yesterday to stop you if you were about to smoke a stick." Naier blinked and looked back at the stick, remembering the communique from Marlene. Right, he had promised he'd quite his habit. He slowly crushed the cigarette in a balled fist, and then exhaled. "Yes, thank you lieutenant." She glanced at the mouse droid. "Shall I. . ?" Naier answered her by pressing the intercom button himself. "Technician to Bridge, we have a droid that needs fixing. I repeat, technician to the bridge."​

 

[Noel Strasza]

STILL_COUNTING

Major "Bridgebreaker" Strasza & The 16th Doom Division Corps
OBJECTIVE :// BANEFUL
LOCATION :// THE_SURFACE, BOROSK
6/6 ALIVE

Eight klicks out from the HMS Baneful--​

"Fucking hell," Major Strasza muttered into her helmet as she took a moment to pause, catching her breath. "Are you lot coming or what?!" She jerked her head to her left, glaring down over her outstretched arm towards the collection of scout troopers a few meters down from her current position. Breathy voices crackled across her comm-link in response. "Well if you all had READ the briefing I distributed, maybe you woulda worked on your climbing skills BEFORE we got here." The Major snorted as she turned her visored gaze upwards once more, searching for her next handhold on the treacherous rockface.​

"Sorry we aren't all monkey-lizards, Bridge!"​

The response made her roll her eyes.​

The objective was as simple as they came, really: provide covering fire and eliminate crucial targets from the waning defense clinging to the downed ship. When she had caught wind of the chance at Borosk, an eagerness beamed in her eyes. Something about finishing what they had started was just too savory to resist. Many of her troopers had chosen to sit this one out, leaving her numbers far less than she ever would have preferred despite the ease this mission truly should have been for the elite strike team. Though, really, she didn't blame them.​

This rock had cost them for every step they had taken, but they had come back for more. That's what she liked about the Imperator; he was her kind of guy. Early into her life, the Major had learned that if you just keep chewing the glass, eventually you won't feel it anymore. And maybe that's why she had decided to neglect personal time that was extended on the ship high overhead and opted to instead drag her soldiers back out into the mix. Only now, it would be on their own terms.​

The crashing echoes of erratic blaster fire and explosions thundered harmonically in the distance, offering some rhythmic tune to the arduous task that lay before The 16th DD. A wall of jagged rock loomed far off the front line- a towering cliff that ran into the mountains. For a group of scouts, it was a wet dream. When the ground was too laden with defensive emplacement and patrols, creativity and speciality were required to complete task. Of course, climbing it without cable wasn't especially ideal, but one couldn't expect to have things just handed to her. It was never easy. ​

"Dastardly, this is BRIDGEBREAKER, we'll mark targets for you shortly. Standby, over." The major answered the call over NIO comm-link. [ Sola Ordes ]

Chewing glass.​

"Major, how much farther do we gotta go? I gotta take a piss." The voice in her helmet pulled her out of the mechanical daze she found herself in as she scaled the path ahead of the others.​

"I mean... what's stopping you from going now?" She snorted, chuckling into her helmet.​

There was a pause. ​

"Uh... I am, you prick." Patters spoke up with a hint of venom in his distorted voice. "I swear to god Brix, if you piss on my goddamn head-"​

"Again, you mean. If he pisses on your head again." Bridgebreaker laughed, pausing in her stretch across a narrow gap to avoid slipping. Once she had settled, she continued.​

"LOOK-" Brix started up again, "I didn't realize you were trying to sleep there. I would've gone somewhere else-"​

"Yeah, I don't wanna hear it, nerf herder. Keep climbing. Hold it. We're almost there, right?"​

The major paused, turning her gaze upward once more. "Uh... yeah. Like three klicks, give or take. It's not straight up though, once we get about six meters higher from where I am currently. Should just be nose to the grindstone after that, steep hike. Just like back home." ​

"Oh that's so great, I fuckin' love our rucks back home. So much, thank you for that, I'm so-"​

Something caught Strasza's ear and she tuned the bitching out. What was that? Something had changed.​

"-appreciated and loved, really adored-"​

"Ross, shut your mouth. Listen. Do you hear that?" Bridgebreaker snapped curtly, furrowing her sweaty brow beneath her helmet.​

"I don't hear anything."​

"Nope, got nothing, Major."​

"It's quiet."​

"Exactly." She hauled herself up onto the narrow ledge she had spoken of previously with a grunt, straining slightly given the weight of her gear and the soreness blooming and rooting in the fibers of her shoulders. "The bombing stopped. They must be preparing to drop troops in." After catching her breath she pushed herself backward and flattened, lying prone on the edge to hang an arm off in offer to the next closest scout, aiding him up. "Let's pick it up, we don't have all day to get there, and I'm not letting them beat us."​

 

[Paz Koon]

// NIV OPULENCE, MEDBAY //
// Rurik Fel //
// SERAPHIM //
// OBJECTIVE II //

​

I have failed you as a teacher...​

"No, Commander," Lambert defied softly with a shake of his head. One before the other, milk-white hands retreated behind his back. His stance widened to shoulder-width after taking a few steps forward towards his teacher. "Your teachings have been invaluable to me. It is because of them that I have even survived Borosk. I know you feel as if you have failed on PL-(numbers), but you need not extend that feeling to me. I could not ask for a better mentor, not even Imperial Warlord Zovesa herself." Lambert paused, his gaze drifting towards the droid as it spoke.

He would continue after a drawn-out moment. "Perhaps it is I who have failed you, Commander Wymar. Zovesa gave me a choice, Borosk or PL-(numbers). I chose Borosk, I chose to defend the front. Perhaps if I had followed your footsteps, together we could have defeated that demon." Lambert stepped back to make way for a medical droid that slipped its way in front of him to reach the Commander. "Men like me would be nothing without those who molded them. I have never known you to be so humble, I request you give yourself more credit, Commander."

 

[Rurik Fel]

P A R A B O L
NEW IMPERIAL ORDER
KNIGHT OF THE EMPIRE
OPULENCE ( FLUID TIME, FOLLOWING THE BATTLE OF PL-numbers )
FOCUS | Lambert Vasari

The sentiment of the Arkanian was a refeshing one though all the same it did little to dowse the flames of the fire that scorched his soul. Though Lambert's gratitude to his teacher was enough affirmation to Rurik that he'd, if nothing else culminated the culture he'd care to within the Imperial Knights reformed and returned. A culture of honor, diligence, discipline.

"I- I admire your gratitude, young Lambert. Regardless...I can not remain dormant much longer." Rurik states as he forces himself from the seat he'd so hopelessly crumpled his form within before, easing back as the pain fiercely fired through his form, drawing a pained groan through gritted teeth before he collapsed back into the seat again.

Eventually, a medical droid arrived with another roving automaton which held his knew armor, his iron skin splayed out for him. He willed himself to stand once more and the droids began to equip him in his new guise.

"And what...what have you seen at Borosk?" Rurik inquired as metal and armorweave was fixed to his form, placid as the droids attached the pieces of armor to his body. It barely resembled the armor of the Imperial Knight.